Alduin's Bane
by caniscanemedit-bully
Summary: Phoenix was the Dragonborn of prophecy. Destined to slay the World-Eater – Alduin, she had begun an epic quest through the lands of Skyrim. When she finds the Elder Scroll to repair the Time Wound, her seemingly-predictable destiny is torn apart…
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Although Alduin is in this, I will be using little dragon language in dialogue. I know he often speak in dragon language but researching the words will prove to be a pain. I will still use Shouts, and common words like 'drem yol lok' (peace fire sky – a dragon's greeting), 'joor' (mortal) and Dovahkiin (do I really have to say that one?). Thanks for reading :3**

Phoenix stared at the ceiling.

Tomorrow, she would meet Paarthurnax at the Throat of the World. The Elder Scroll had been located, and the Time Wound would be repaired.

Yet she felt something else was coming.

Strangely enough, her thoughts leads her to Alduin, and their few brief encounters.

" _Dragon!" a voice cried._

 _Phoenix stumbled to the ground. Deafening, inhuman sounds echoed from Helgen and most likely further._

 _A voice._

 _A strong hand grabbed her arm and tugged her up._

" _Hey, prisoner. Get up! Come on, the Gods won't give us another chance!"_

 _The blonde Nord male she'd met from the cart just moments earlier. Ralof, she recalled his name._

 _She scurried after Ralof, trying to ignore the pain in her side when she had fallen from the block just moments ago._

" _Quickly, in here!" he gestured towards a door into the Imperial fort of Helgen. She obeyed, dashing in. Fear was settling in now, as she had begun to think of reasons for why there was a dragon, of all things saving her life. Well, so far._

 _She turned to Ralof, only to finding him conversing with the Jarl of Windhelm – Ulfric Stormcloak. Her contemplation lead her to ignoring little of what they had said, besides Ulfric saying something about 'legends don't burn down villages'._

" _We need to move, now!" his thick, Nordic accent boomed through the tower, signalling everyone uninjured up the stairs – including herself and Ralof._

 _Phoenix darted ahead, only to find a pile of rubble blocking any exit._

" _We'll have to find a different way out!" Phoenix called to the escapees below her._

 _Well, at least her problem was fixed._

 _The wall to her side was battered down in an instant, causing her to tumble and land on her bottom._

 _The dragon._

 _A sinister, dark head appeared, before a gout of flame engulfed the top of the tower._

 _And herself._

Phoenix shot up.

Had I fallen asleep? She thought.

"Phoenix, are you all right?" light footsteps on wood grew louder. It was just her steward, Marcurio. "I heard screaming."

"It's… I'm fine. Just a nightmare, that's all. Thanks for your concern."

"It is morning, by the way. If you're planning any adventures, you'll need an excellent mage such as myself at your side."

Phoenix laughed at his big-headed attitude. At least everything seemed normal – for now.

"Well… I think I'll handle this one on my own today. Thanks for the offer, though."

She slid out of her messy bedsheets, and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. She immediately headed down to her armoury, in which she stored all the items she needed for adventuring.

She slipped comfortably into her dragonscale armour, and added some potions and coin into her bag. Phoenix rarely ever brought more than her dragonbone dagger with her, as she preferred to use magic to summon her weapons. Many other Nords found her to be unusual, as she was no warrior – a mere spellsword. Still, none could argue with her battle prowess – and ability to slay dragons.

Phoenix stepped out into an early-morning snow storm – predictable. Even though, Falkreath did not usually get storms this heavy. Regardless, she slung herself on the back of her horse – Shadowmere – an headed in the direction of the Throat of the World.

 **A/N: Yes another one of these, sorry. And sorry again for such a short, anticlimactic chapter. I assure you the next one will be much more interesting. If I think of any improvements to make to this chapter, I will definitely update it.**


	2. Chapter 2

The blizzard was roaring as Phoenix arrived at the Throat of the World.

"You have it. The Kel – the Elder Scroll," a distinct voice boomed through the whirlwind of snow and ice. "Tiid kreh… qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question. You are doom-driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go then. Fulfil your destiny. Take the scroll to the Time-Wound. Do not delay. Alduin _will_ be coming. He cannot miss the signs."

Phoenix nodded in the direction of Paarthurnax's voice, assuming that the wise dragon would have detected her doing so.

The Nord took the Elder Scroll from her bag and walked towards a strange clearing in the snow storm. She was shaking, and almost scared of dropping the Scroll.

She took a deep breath, and unravelled the Scroll.

Her vision was blinded, her eyes in agony.

"Ahh! Paarthurnax! What's going on?!"

No answer.

Strange symbols and runes filled her vision, and everything she could see changed.

"What happened?"

Phoenix's vision re-adjusted and she collapsed to the ground, dropping the Scroll. She felt the new Thu'um – Dragonrend – within her. She had seen the Ancient Nords – Gormlaith, Felldir and Hakon – attempt to fight Alduin, only for Felldir to banish him with the Elder Scroll. They had used Dragonrend in attempt to take down Alduin.

"Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor. My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde!"

Phoenix jumped up and quickly conjured a bound sword.

"Lost funt. You are too late, Alduin! Dovahk-," an ear-piercing cry echoed through the twirling white vortex. Paarthurnax panicked, and Phoenix could just make out the aged, silver dragon rapidly fly into the distance.

"Dovahkiin! What have you done?!"

Phoenix rotated herself, to face Alduin.

What she saw was something she did not expect.

"Where- what did you do to Paarthurnax?!" she cried through the thickening storm. Even though she was a hardy Nord, the dangerous cold was biting at her flesh. She was going to collapse.

"Foolish joor!" the storm completely coated her vision. She could not see further than her own feet.

Another cry.

All went silent.

Paarthurnax had long disappeared, and Alduin was no longer shouting condescending things through the thick of the storm.

The snow continued to pelt on to the ground, and Phoenix had to cover her face with her arm. She dragged her feet, through the icing of snow atop the mountain, towards where she had last heard Alduin.

"Come and face me, you pathetic worm!" she shouted. No reply.

The only thing she heard besides the howling wind was a faint muffling sound directly in front of her.

It was her only option. She darted towards the sound.

"H- hello?" her teeth chattered.

Another murmur.

A body of a man lay besides the desolate word wall. Although she had heard murmuring, she could not yet fully tell whether this man was dead or alive. She doubted he would be alive, as the nude male must have been in the cold for quite some time.

Phoenix lowered beside him. She hesitantly turned him over, to check for a pulse. She gently placed her hand on his neck.

He was alive.

Phoenix placed a hand on his chest to attempt to heal any injures he may have sustained. He turned his head, and his eyes shot open. His eyes were red, which made Phoenix instantly jump back. He awkwardly lunged an arm at her, fingers barely grasping the collar of her cuirass.

" _Dovahkiin_."

His eyes snapped shut.


	3. Chapter 3

Phoenix hadn't a clue what to do.

Alduin, the World-Eater, had reduced to a mere mortal weakened on the ground. He couldn't move, he could barely speak. She had half a mind to just leave him there to freeze to death, but she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.

Her destiny to defeat this mighty dragon seemed to disintegrate.

The storm weakened, and her strength had begun to return.

Phoenix felt the strength of her Thu'um within her once again. The snow storm had weakened her to the level were a Shout would probably had reduced her to a weak mess on the freezing ground.

"LOK VAH KOOR!"

Suddenly, the clouds shifted, and gave in to her mighty Thu'um.

Now, she had only two problems. Alduin, and Paarthurnax's disappearance.

Phoenix decided to deal with the former. She headed over to Shadowmere and tugged his reins, gesturing him towards the nude Alduin unconscious on the ground. From one of the satchels attached to Shadowmere, she pulled out a pelt she often used as a sort of blanket. She carried it in case she decided to set up a camp – knowing that she wouldn't make it home in time to rest.

Hesitantly, she placed the pelt on to Alduin, and awkwardly wrapped it around him. Phoenix knew that she shouldn't be helping her arch nemesis, but his helpless form lying nude on the ground with no chance of surviving made her feel empathy for the evil dragon he usually was.

The moons were high in the sky. Thankfully enough, any signs of a snow storm seemed very unlikely.

Phoenix decided to set up camp. She took some bedrolls and tents from one of the bags attached to Shadowmere and had begun to fix up a small camp. She then took out a few logs of firewood and created a somewhat neat pile in the centre of the word wall.

Phoenix then cast a firebolt spell at the wood, sparking a small but warming camp fire.

 _What do I do with Alduin?_ she pondered, glancing at the unconscious man wrapped in a pelt beside the word wall.

She tried not to think about it as she dragged him along the ground towards the camp. Definitely not a preferred method, but she had no chance in Oblivion at picking up a man who was once a humungous dragon.

Finally, after a little bit of effort (and leaning on Shadowmere for support occasionally), she had managed to transport Alduin's limp, lifeless form to one of the sheltered bed rolls.

Phoenix herself lay down on the other bed roll, and fell into a deep sleep.

" _Argh!" Phoenix cried, as a strong arm grabbed her harshly from her bed roll by her collar. She was forcefully tugged upwards, face-to-face with her arch nemesis._

 _Alduin._

" _P- put me down!" she was shivering nervously._

" _How DARE you!" the now-human World-Eater hissed, moving closer to her face – that now wore a terrified expression._

" _P- please… I… it wasn't my intention!"_

" _Whether it was or not, Dovahkiin, this is still your doing!" Alduin hissed menacingly, spitting in her face. From the corner of her eye, she saw a short blade in his other hand. Her dagger._

" _Hmmm… what would you prefer Dovahkiin? The easy way, or the hard way?"_

 _Phoenix ignored him, and struggled desperately in his grip. "Let me go!"_

" _I'll take that as the hard way, then," he grinned devilishly, baring his beast-like teeth. The dagger was swung toward her, before it plunged into…_

Phoenix shot up from her bedroll, but managed to prevent herself from screaming. _Another nightmare_ , she thought. Her first instinct was checking her dagger was still at her side - thank the Divines it was.

Although it was still prominently night, Masser was now low in the sky, Secunda trailing behind. It a few short hours, daylight would come and she would be expected back home soon by her impatient steward, Marcurio.

"Dovahkiin!"

 _Oh, there was that problem, too._

"What have you done to me, foolish joor?!"

Phoenix turned around, expecting a horrible beastly man or a weird cross-species between a Nord and an Argonian. By Akatosh, she was wrong.

The only time she had seen him properly was during the intense blizzard, and the most she had seen of him was a glint of a vampire-like eye. Stood before her, however, was a towering male – most comparable to a Nord. He had ebony black hair that surpassed his broad shoulders. His face was seemed to have a constantly-unimpressed expression, enhanced by his gaunt cheeks and jaw. His long and angular nose gave the impression that he was looking down his nose on her – which he probably was anyway. A pair of soft lips were thinned in a hateful expression, parallel to his body language. A lean body, although somewhat struggling to stand on their new mortal legs, faced Phoenix directly – as if to challenge her. Besides her evil glares and spiteful attitude, she could not deny that this human Alduin was one of the most attractive men she had ever encountered.

 _Thank the Divines I gave him that pelt_ , she thought as she acknowledged the single pelt wrapped around his frame.

Still struggling to move on these new human legs, Alduin practically waddled towards Phoenix, who had an expectant eyebrow raised. If he attempted to attack her, she had no problem with defending herself – especially against Alduin.

"Oh mighty Alduin!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "You have come to challenge me?"

"Challenge? Arrogant mortal, you are no challenge for the First Born of Akatosh!"

"Would your new mortal form say the same? Look at you, the all-powerful Alduin, and you can barely walk more than three steps!"

"Ignorant joor, your soul will be mine!" Alduin stood a foot from Phoenix. Strong hands reached for her neck. Her dagger was unsheathed, ready to retaliate.

Nothing.

Alduin wobbled awkwardly on his legs, before helplessly collapsing.

In Phoenix's arms, that is.

She barely managed to stay on two feet as the angry Dovah had fallen.

She immediately shoved him off, before the unintentional situation got any more awkward.

Phoenix considered the situation, quickly drowning out what had just happened. "Look, _Bane of Kings_. My destiny is to defeat you in a battle between Dovah and Dovahkiin. I will be seen as an ultimate failure if the way I defeated you was by leaving your mortal form out to die – but your lack of cooperation will give me no other choice. As much as we both despise the idea, you can either come with me and stop trying to kill me, or I'll leave you here to be eaten by a bear or something."

Alduin gave her a deadly glare.

"So, what will it be?"

 **A/N: My vision of Alduin in this fic is a portrayal of a human Alduin by RisingMonster on DeviantArt. If you want more of an idea of what this particular Alduin looks like, I would check that out :3**


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